Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator including a main body having storage spaces and doors to selectively close the storage spaces, and a control panel with a display configured to input/output control information on the main body and a plurality of buttons, the refrigerator comprising: a brightness adjusting unit configured to adjust a brightness of the display to avoid a unnecessary power consumption occurred by the main body; and a power amount display unit configured to display an amount of power supplied to the main body and electric charges therefor on the display. By providing the display on the control panel to display an amount of power consumed and electric charges therefor, a user can easily recognize the amount of power consumed and the electric charges therefor due to the use of the refrigerator. Also, the brightness of the display can be adjusted by the user&#39;s selection, so as to enable the reduction of the amount of power consumed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly,to a refrigerator having a control panel for allowing an input of acontrol signal and a display of a control state of the refrigerator.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a refrigerator, which is to store foods at a lowtemperature, keeps foods in a frozen state or in a fresh state dependingon the state of foods to be stored.

Cold air supplied into the refrigerator may be generated by aheat-exchange of a refrigerant, and continuously supplied into therefrigerator by a repetition of cycle ofcompression-condensation-expansion-evaporation. The supplied cold air isuniformly delivered into the refrigerator by a convection current suchthat foods in the refrigerator can be stored at a desired temperature.

As users' life styles change and users' demands are increasing, therefrigerator is getting large in size and multi-functional.

Hereinafter, the configuration of a general refrigerator will bedescribed with reference to the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a general refrigerator, in which a main body 1of the refrigerator is formed in an approximately rectangularparallelepiped shape, and has a storage space for storing foods therein.

The storage space inside the main body 1 is divided into right and leftstorage spaces to be implemented as a freezing chamber 10 and arefrigerating chamber 20, respectively. The freezing chamber 10 and therefrigerating chamber 20 may be formed to be forwardly opened in themain body 1. Also, the open front surfaces of the freezing chamber 10and the refrigerating chamber 20 are selectively closed by a freezingchamber door 12 and the refrigerating chamber door 22, which are mountedat the main body 1 to be rotatable to right and left sides.

A dispenser 14 and a refreshment center (i.e., so-called “home bar”) aredisposed, for the sake of users' convenience, at the front surfaces ofthe freezing chamber door 12 and the refrigerating chamber door 22,respectively. The dispenser 14, which is capable of dispensing iceand/or purified water in the refrigerator to the outside, is disposed atthe front surface of the freezing chamber door 12.

Also, the home bar 24 allows foods stored in the refrigerating chamber20 to be easily taken out or put in therethrough without opening therefrigerating chamber door 22. The home bar 24 is configured such thatan opening is formed in one side of the refrigerating chamber door 22and a home bar door is mounted to selectively close the opening in arotational manner.

On the other hand, a control panel 30 is further provided above thedispenser 14.

The control panel 30 is employed to display control states of therefrigerator inputted by manipulating buttons 32 on a screen 31. A usercan view contents displayed on the screen 31 by light irradiated fromthe rear surface of the screen 31.

The contents displayed on the screen 31 may be temperatures in therefrigerating chamber 20 and the freezing chamber 10, a current time,and the like.

However, the related art refrigerator may occur the following problems.

First, the related art refrigerator may consume unnecessary power due toa light irradiation onto the screen while the user does not check thecontents displayed on the screen.

Second, even if the user checks the contents on the screen, depending onthe user's feeling, the user may think as if too much light isirradiated on the screen to cause the unnecessary power consumption,resulting in causing the user's dissatisfaction.

Third, upon using the refrigerator, the user may not recognize theamount of power consumed and electric charges. Accordingly, the user maydraw out an article kept in the refrigerator with leaving therefrigerator door open, or accommodate too many articles or foods in thestorage spaces, resulting in the consumption of unnecessary power. Inorder to avoid such power consumption, an additional function ofdisplaying the amount of power consumed and electric charges due to theuse of the refrigerator is increasingly required to be added to thecontrol panel.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide arefrigerator capable of displaying an amount of power consumed andelectric charges by allowing the amount of power consumed for a certainduration or up to a current time to be displayed on a control paneldisposed on a main body of the refrigerator.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigeratorcapable of adjusting an amount of light irradiated on a screen of acontrol panel disposed on a main body of the refrigerator.

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided arefrigerator, in a refrigerator including a main body having storagespaces and doors which selectively close the storage spaces, and acontrol panel having a display for inputting/outputting controlinformation related to the main body and a plurality of buttons, therefrigerator comprising: a brightness adjusting unit configured toadjust a brightness of the display in order to avoid an unnecessarypower consumption occurred by the main body; and a power amount displayunit configured to calculate an amount of power supplied to the mainbody and electric charges and display the calculated results.

The brightness of the display is adjustable by turning on/off aplurality of light emitting diodes located at a rear surface of thedisplay.

The power amount display unit may comprise a watt-hour meter configuredto measure an amount of power supplied to the main body; and a centralcontroller configured to calculate electric charges for a durationinputted from the outside based on the amount of power measured by thewatt-hour meter and display the calculated electric charges on thecontrol panel.

The central controller may comprise a memory for storing a commonlyutilized electric charge table, and storing an amount of power suppliedto the main body measured by the watt-hour meter.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided arefrigerator comprising: a main body having a case with storage spacesformed therein and doors for selectively closing the storage spaces; acontrol panel disposed on any of the doors and having a display and aplurality of buttons; and a brightness adjusting unit disposed in themain body and configured to adjust the brightness of the display.

In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided arefrigerator comprising: a main body having a case with storage spacesformed therein and doors for selectively closing the storage spaces; acontrol panel disposed on any of the doors and configured to input oroutput control information related to the main body; a watt-hour meterconfigured to measure an amount of power supplied to the main body; anda central controller configured to calculate electric charges for aduration inputted from the outside based on the amount of power measuredby the watt-hour meter and display the calculated electric charges onthe control panel.

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

The refrigerator according to the present invention may have thefollowing effects.

First, the display for displaying an amount of power consumed andelectric charges is disposed on the control panel so as to allow a userto easily recognize the amount of power consumed and the electriccharges due to the user of the refrigerator.

Second, the user can set the control panel to display an amount of powerconsumed and electric charges for a desired duration by using aplurality of buttons, and accordingly can recognize an amount of powerconsumed and electric charges of the refrigerator for a past month orpast year and for a current month or current year.

Third, as the amount of power consumed and electric charges are allowedto be recognized, the user can satisfy his curiosity and also it canserve as a momentum to have a mind of saving energy. In addition, theuser's mind of saving energy may result in a substantial energy saving.

Fourth, the brightness adjusting unit to allow a user to selectivelyadjust the brightness of the control panel, which enable the user toselect the brightness of the display.

Fifth, as the brightness of the display can be adjusted by the user'sselection, the amount of power consumed can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an appearance of a general refrigerator;

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an appearance of a refrigerator inaccordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a brightness adjusting unit of FIG.2;

FIGS. 4 to 6 are views showing changes in the brightness of a displaymanipulated using the brightness adjusting unit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a front view sowing a configuration of a control paneldisplaying an amount of power consumed and electric charges in arefrigerator in accordance with a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a structural view of a central controller for displaying theamount of power consumed and electric charges in relation to FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view an amount of power consumed and electric charges foreach duration displayed on the control panel, in relation to FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a view showing an amount of power consumed and electriccharges up to a current time displayed on the control panel, in relationto FIG. 7.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to a refrigerator in accordancewith a first embodiment of the present invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an appearance of a refrigerator inaccordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator 100 in accordance with the firstembodiment may comprise a case 100 having an inner space divided into afreezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber, and doors 120 and 140configured to selectively close the inner space of the case 100.

The doors 120 and 140 may further have door handles 122 and 142,respectively, to allow a user to open or close the doors 120 and 140 bygrasping them. The doors 120 and 140 may be respectively referred to asa freezing chamber door 120 and a refrigerating chamber door 140according to spaces which they close.

The freezing chamber door 120 may include a dispenser 170 to allow auser to draw out water or ice without opening the freezing chamber door120. A control panel 150 which controls operations of the refrigeratorand displays various control screens may be disposed above the dispenser170.

The refrigerating chamber door 140 selectively closes a right space ofthe main body, namely, the refrigerating chamber, and may include a homebar 180 which allows a user to draw out water, drinks, or the likewithout opening the refrigerating chamber door 140. The dispenser 170and the home bar 180 have already been disclosed to be commonly used,detailed description of which will thusly be omitted.

In the meantime, the control panel 150 can be mountable at any side ofthe home bar 180, the door 120 or 140 or the case 100 as well as abovethe dispenser 170. The control panel 150 may include a plurality ofoperation buttons 152 (refer to FIG. 4), a central controller forprocessing various types of control signals although not shown, and adisplay 151 (refer to FIG. 4) for displaying an operation state of therefrigerator performed by the central controller.

In addition, a brightness adjusting unit 160 for adjusting thebrightness of the display 151 by the user's manipulation may further bedisposed on the door 120 or 140 or the case 100. In the embodiment ofthe present invention, the brightness adjusting unit 160 is disposed onthe case 100, particularly, on the right side of the control panel 150.

The brightness adjusting unit 160 is configured such that the user canadjust the brightness of the display 150 in a multi-step manner. Theembodiment of the present invention illustrates that the brightness ofthe display 151 is adjusted in three steps.

The brightness of the display 151 may be adjusted by location in whichlight emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed in the display 151 are turned onor off. This configuration will be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings hereafter.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the brightnessadjusting unit of FIG. 2, which shows an appearance of a toggle switchwhich controls a current supply by changing locations of plural contactpoints.

As shown in FIG. 3, the brightness adjusting unit 160 may include anupper frame 161 configuring an upper surface and part of outer sidesurface of the brightness adjusting unit 160 and having a guide groove162 formed in a similar shape to

and a lower frame 164 coupled to the upper frame 161 and having aplurality of terminals 165 protruding downwardly from a lower endthereof.

A movable lever 163 slidable up and down is mounted in the guide groove162. As the movable lever 163 moves, the location of a contact point ofa contact point plate is changed, the contact point plate implemented asa plate spring disposed in the movable lever 163.

Also, in order to adjust the brightness of the display 151 in the threesteps, three contact points are configured to be connected to thecentral controller (not shown).

That is, the brightness of the display 151 may be controlled by thecentral controller such that the brightness of the display 151 can bedifferent when the movable lever 163 is located at an upper recess ofthe guide groove 162, when the movable lever 163 is located at a centralrecess, and when the movable lever 163 is located at a lower recess.

Such control operations will be described with reference to the drawingshereafter.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show the changes in the brightness of the displaymanipulated using the brightness adjusting unit of FIG. 3. In thisembodiments, the LEDs adjusting the brightness of the display 151 aredistributed in the central portion and the edge portions of the display151, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the central portion of the display 151displays the control screen of the refrigerator. A plurality of segments(e.g., 7 segments) and a LED module are used to radiate light on thiscentral portion so as to clearly display a temperature in therefrigerator and the like. A plurality of LED modules are disposed inthe edge portions to perform a backlight function such that the display151 including the operation buttons 152 can be viewed brighter when anyof the doors 120 and 140 is open or any of the operation buttons 152 ispressed.

That is, the LEDs in the central portion and the edge portions of thecontrol panel 150 are respectively connected to a lighting circuit forturning on or off each LED. As the contact point of the lighting circuitis changed by the brightness adjusting unit 160, the brightness of thecontrol panel 150 is selectively adjusted depending on the changedlocation of the contact point.

For the brightness of the display 151 as shown in FIG. 4, the circuitmay be configured such that the plurality of segments (e.g., 7 segments)and the LED module disposed in the central portion and the edge portionscan all be lighted up when the movable lever 163 of the brightnessadjusting unit 160 is located at the upper end of the guide groove 162,namely, at the location indicated as “FINE.”

For the brightness of the display 151 as shown in FIG. 5, the circuitmay be configured such that the segment located at the most centralportion among the plurality of segments (e.g., 7 segments) disposed inthe central portion can only be lighted up when the movable lever 163 ofthe brightness adjusting unit 160 is located at the center of the guidegroove 162, namely, at a location indicated as “FAIR.”

Also, for the brightness of the display 151 as shown in FIG. 6, thecircuit may be configured such that the plurality of segments (e.g., 7segments) and the LED module disposed at the central portion and theedge portions can all be turned off when the movable lever 163 of thebrightness adjusting unit 160 is located at the lower end of the guidegroove 162, namely, at a location indicated as “ENERGY SAVING”.

Here, when the brightness adjusting unit 160 has been set as shown inFIGS. 4 to 6, if any of the doors 120 and 140 is open or any operationbutton 152 is pressed, the circuit may be configured such that theplurality of segments and the LED module can all be lighted up.

In addition, the circuit configured as mentioned above, is controlled bythe central controller, so as to adjust the brightness of the controlpanel 150.

The operation of the refrigerator in accordance with a first embodimentof the present invention having such configuration will now bedescribed.

The refrigerator according to the first embodiment may be implementedsuch that the brightness of the control panel 150 can be adjustedaccording to a user's manipulation.

In detail, the refrigerator may include the brightness adjusting unit160 for selecting the brightness of the display 150. The brightnessadjusting unit 160 may be configured as a toggle switch having threecontact point, such that the user can adjust the brightness of thedisplay 151 by selecting one of modes, namely, FINE, FAIR or ENERGYSAVING.

That is, in the FINE mode, the display 151 may be viewed in thebrightest state. This may be implemented by moving the contact point ofthe brightness adjusting unit 160 such that the plurality of segmentsand the LED disposed in the control panel 150 can all be lighted up, asmentioned above. This FINE mode may provide the brightness of thedisplay 151 appropriate for users who desire a bright display 151regardless of electric charges.

The FAIR mode may be available by moving the contact point of thebrightness adjusting unit 160 such that the segments (e.g., 7 segments)can only be lighted up which allow a temperature in the refrigerator tobe recognized on the display 151. The FAIR mode may support thebrightness of the display 151 appropriate for users (consumers) whoconcern electric charges in some degrees.

Also, the ENERGY SAVING mode may be implemented by turning off all ofthe segments and the LED. Accordingly in this mode, the brightness ofthe display 151 can be supported to be appropriate for users who desireto save electric charges.

The scope of the present invention as mentioned above is not limited tothe embodiments described above, but it can be understood by thoseskilled in the art that this invention belongs to that manymodifications and variations are possible based upon the presentinvention.

For example, three push buttons may be configured instead of the toggleswitch used as the brightness adjusting unit such that individualselections can be done for the FINE, FAIR and ENERGY SAVING modes. Also,instead of selecting three steps of brightness of the display, it may bepossible to adjust the brightness of the display in various stepsaccording to a circuit configuration.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator in accordance with a second embodiment ofthe present invention will now be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings. However, the configuration as same as that inthe first embodiment and the detailed description for such configurationwill be referred to as those in the first embodiment, furtherexplanation of which will not be provided.

FIG. 7 is a front view sowing a configuration of a control paneldisplaying an amount of power consumed and electric charges in arefrigerator in accordance with a second embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 8 is a structural view of a central controller fordisplaying the amount of power consumed and electric charges in relationto FIG. 7.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in the appearance of the control panel 250,it may be formed to be approximately rectangular, and include a buttonunit 252 with a plurality of operation buttons, and a display 251configured to display an operation state of the refrigerator.

The control panel 250 may have a central controller 300 disposedtherein. The central controller 250 may include a memory 325 for storinga commonly utilized electric charge table and an amount of powerconsumed measured by a watt-hour meter 321 to be explained below, adecoder 326 for calculating an amount of power consumed and electriccharge data based on the electric charge table stored in the memory 325according to an amount of power consumed measured by the watt-hour meter321, and an encoder 327 for transmitting the data calculated in thedecoder 326 to the display 251.

The plurality of operation buttons at the button unit 252 may include amenu button 252 a, up and down navigation buttons 252 b and 252 c, aconfirmation button 252 f (e.g., ENTER), an initializing button 252 d(e.g., CLEAR), and a current consumption checking button 252 e (e.g.,TODAY). The plurality of operation buttons may further includeadditional buttons for functions of deep freezing, defrosting, and thelike.

The menu button 252 a is configured to display a list of functions whichthe user manipulates for the refrigerator on the display 251. Inparticular, a display function of an amount of power consumed andelectric charges is displayed on the display 251 upon pressing the menubutton 252 a.

The up and down navigation buttons 252 b and 252 c are configured tomove the list of functions up and down, the plural functions displayedwhen pressing the menu button 252 a, so as to allow a user to select adesired function, or to allow addition and subtraction of valuesdisplayed on a desired location.

The ENTER button 252 f may perform a function of storing data (contents)set by the menu button 252 a and the up and down navigation buttons 252b and 252 c, and the CLEAR button 252 d may perform a function ofinitializing the set data.

The TODAY button 252 e is configured to display the amount of powerconsumed up to now and electric charges therefor on the display 251 at atime, without manipulating the menu button 252 a and the up and downnavigation buttons 252 b and 252 c. Upon pressing the TODAY button 252 eonce, the display 251 displays the amount of power consumed from 1^(st)of January of the year to the present and electric charges therefor.Upon pressing it once more, the display 251 displays the amount of powerconsumed from 1^(st) of the month to the present and electric chargestherefor. That is, whenever the TODAY button 252 e is pressed, the TODAYbutton 252 e is programmed such that data to be displayed can beconverted whenever the TODAY button 252 e is pressed.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the central controller which controlsthe amount of power consumed of the refrigerator and electric chargestherefor to be displayed will be described in accordance with thisembodiment with reference to FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 8, the main body 320 of the central controller 300 mayobtain power required for operations from a power supplying unit 310,namely, from a power socket.

The amount of power supplied from the power supplying unit 310 iscalculated by a watt-hour meter 321. The watt-hour meter 321 may belocated at anywhere inside or outside of the main body 320, but beinstalled such that the measured values can be transferred to thecentral controller 300.

The amount of power supplied measured by the watt-hour meter 321 istransferred to the decoder 326 of the central controller 300.

The decoder 326 obtains data with respect to each amount of powersupplied which is measured by the watt-hour meter 321 and continuouslystore each data in the memory 325. The decoder 326 may be programmed toinitialize such data if necessary.

Also, when the user manipulates the button unit 252 with the pluralityof buttons to display an amount of power consumed and electric chargesfor a duration desired by the user, the decoder 326 extracts data forthe desired duration from the data stored in the memory 325 to thentransfer to the encoder 327.

The encoder 327 transfers the received data to the display 251 to bedisplayed thereon.

The operation of the refrigerator in accordance with the embodimenthaving the configuration and system as described above will now beexplained with reference to the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 9 is a view an amount of power consumed and electric charges foreach duration displayed on the control panel, in relation to FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 9, on the display 251 of the control panel 250 aredisplayed an amount of power consumed and electric charges which areused during a certain period (e.g., 1^(st) to 31^(st) of Oct. 2006) bythe user manipulating the button unit 252.

In more detail, the user presses the menu button 252 a, manipulates theup and down navigation buttons 252 b and 252 c to select the displayfunction of the amount of power consumed and the electric chargestherefor, and then presses the ENTER button 252 f.

Upon pressing the ENTER button 252 f, a part for inputting a usageduration is displayed on the display 251. Then, the user inputs theusage duration in the order of day, month and year, by using the up anddown navigation buttons 252 b and 252 c and the ENTER button 252 f.

Upon completely inputting the usage duration through the processes, theuser presses the ENTER button 252 f again. Accordingly, the display 251displays the usage duration, the amount of power consumed, and electriccharges with respect to the amount of power consumed with measuringformulas, as shown in FIG. 9.

Here, the amount of power consumed and the electric charges as describedabove are calculated by the decoder 326, which extracts for thecalculation corresponding data from the measured data by the watt-hourmeter 321 which is continuously stored in the memory 325 and thecurrently utilized electric charge table. The calculated results arethen transferred to the encoder 327. The encoder 327 then converts thecalculated results and transfers the converted results to be displayedon the display 251.

FIG. 10 is a view showing an amount of power consumed and electriccharges up to a current time displayed on the control panel, in relationto FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 10, on the display 251 of the control panel 250 aredisplayed an amount of power consumed up to the present (e.g., 29^(th)of Nov., 2006) and electric charges therefor by the user manipulatingthe buttons 252.

Describing them in more detail, the user presses the TODAY button 252 eonce.

As described above, the display 251 is programmed such that for pressingthe TODAY button 252 e once, the amount of power consumed from 1^(st) ofJanuary to the present of the year is displayed, and for pressing theTODAY button 252 e once more, the amount of power consumed from 1^(st)to present of the month is displayed. Accordingly, FIG. 10 shows thescreen when the user presses the TODAY button 252 e twice.

The screen as shown in FIG. 10 may be programmed such that the amount ofpower consumed accumulatingly stored in the memory 325 can be calculatedand displayed with respect to a certain duration according to the numberof times of the TODAY button 252 e pressed, namely, with respect to aduration from 1^(st) of January to the present of the year when pressingthe button the odd number of times, and with respect to a duration from1^(st) of the month to the time of the TODAY button 252 e being pressedwhen pressing the TODAY button 252 e the even number of times.

In addition to the functions as mentioned above, functions of comparingthe amount of power consumed in a previous month and that in a currentmonth, or comparing the amount of power consumed in a previous year andthat in a current year may further be programmed.

The present invention has been explained with reference to theembodiments which are merely exemplary. As the present features may beembodied in several forms without departing from the characteristicsthereof, it should also be understood that the above-describedembodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoingdescription, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construedbroadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims, andtherefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes andbounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds aretherefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A refrigerator including a main body having storage spaces and doorsconfigured to selectively close the storage spaces, and a control panelwith a display configured to input or output control information on themain body and a plurality of buttons, the refrigerator comprising: abrightness adjusting unit configured to adjust a brightness of thedisplay to avoid a unnecessary power consumption occurred by the mainbody; and a power amount display unit configured to display an amount ofpower supplied to the main body and electric charges therefor on thedisplay.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the brightness of thedisplay is adjusted by turning on or off a plurality of light emittingdiodes (LEDs) disposed at a rear surface of the display.
 3. Therefrigerator of claim 1, wherein the power amount display unitcomprises: a watt-hour meter configured to measure the amount of powersupplied to the main body; and a central controller configured tocalculate electric charges for a duration inputted from the outsidebased on the amount of power measured by the watt-hour meter and displaythe calculated electric charges on the control panel.
 4. Therefrigerator of claim 3, wherein the central controller comprises amemory configured to store a currently utilized electric charge tableand the amount of power consumed by the main body, measured by thewatt-hour meter.
 5. A refrigerator comprising: a main body having a casewith storage spaces formed therein and doors for selectively closing thestorage spaces; a control panel disposed on any of the doors and havinga display and a plurality of buttons; and a brightness adjusting unitdisposed in the main body and configured to adjust the brightness of thedisplay.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 5, the brightness adjusting unitis implemented as a toggle switch which controls a current supply bychanging locations of plural contact points.
 7. The refrigerator ofclaim 5, wherein the brightness of the display is adjusted in amulti-step manner by manipulating the brightness adjusting unit.
 8. Therefrigerator of claim 5, wherein the brightness of the display isadjusted by changing the number of light emitting diodes lighted up bymanipulating the brightness adjusting unit, a plurality of the lightemitting diodes disposed at the rear surface of the display.
 9. Therefrigerator of claim 8, wherein the brightness of the display isadjusted by: a first step of lighting up all of the plurality of lightemitting diodes; a second step of lighting up half of the plurality oflight emitting diodes; and a third step of turning off all of theplurality of light emitting diodes.
 10. The refrigerator of claim 9,wherein at the second step, the light emitting diodes which are lightedup are uniformly disposed at the rear surface of the display.
 11. Arefrigerator comprising: a main body having a case with storage spacesformed therein and doors for selectively closing the storage spaces; acontrol panel disposed on any of the doors and configured to input oroutput control information on the main body; a watt-hour meterconfigured to measure an amount of power supplied to the main body; anda central controller configured to calculate electric charges for aduration inputted from the outside based on the amount of power measuredby the watt-hour meter and display the calculated electric charges onthe control panel.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein theduration inputted from the outside is either a certain duration in thepast or a duration from a certain time point in the past to the present.13. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the central controller isprovided together with a control unit which controls the control panel.14. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the control panel comprises: adisplay configured to display a control screen; and a plurality ofbuttons configured to set a screen displayed on the display.
 15. Therefrigerator of claim 11, wherein the central controller comprises amemory configured to store a currently utilized electric charge tableand the amount of power consumed by the main body, measured by thewatt-hour meter.
 16. The refrigerator of claim 14, wherein the displayis implemented as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device.
 17. Therefrigerator of claim 14, wherein the plurality of buttons comprise: amenu button to allow a list of functions manipulated by a user to bedisplayed on the display; up and down navigation buttons to allow thelist of functions displayed to be changed or allow date to be set; aconfirmation button to allow data set by the menu button and the up anddown navigation button to be stored; a clear button to allow the storeddata to be initialized; and an electric charge checking button to allowthe amount of power and electric charges therefor to be displayed on thedisplay.